Changjin Lake in the eyes of a veteran soldier in the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea ■ PLA Daily reporter Wei Yumeng At the end of the film Changjin lake, Li Huawu, a veteran of the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea, saluted the army to the screen. The picture is taken by Hua Xiaofeng of Chuanguan news The ending song sounded and the lights lit up in an instant. In such a big cinema, only one old man stood upright. "The great spirit of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea has been renewed for a long time!" "The great martyrs of the Chinese people's Volunteer Army will live forever!" Facing the two lines on the big screen, the old man raised his residual arm and made a special military salute. On the national day of 2021, the film "Changjin Lake" was popular all over the country. In the case of the high attendance rate of the film, a cinema in Chengdu "chartered the venue" for Li Huawu, an 88 year old veteran of the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea. When watching the film on October 12, the old man specially put on the military uniform he hadn't worn for many years. After 70 years, veteran Li Huawu met his fighting youth in a film. The film Changjin lake is like a time-space tunnel, which makes the veterans instantly return to the unusually cold winter and touch the hot blood in the ice and snow years. Soon after the film began to show, the train leading to the border made the old man fall into memory. For most people today, the first trip away from home at the age of 18 is probably on the way to the university campus. For Li Huawu in 1951, at the age of 18, as the second batch of volunteer soldiers to enter the DPRK, he went to the battle front to protect his family and defend his country. Starting from his hometown Guangyuan, Sichuan, Li Huawu and his comrades in arms first took a car to Baoji, and then took a train from Baoji for two or three days to the northeast. Like the "fifty thousand miles" in the film, sitting in a tank car, Li Huawu, who has just joined the army, can't imagine the cruelty of the distant battlefield, just as he didn't expect his courage and fearlessness in the future. "I'm Li Huawu, a soldier of the 60 artillery squad in the 4th row, 7th company, 3rd Battalion, 105th regiment, 35th division, 12th army of the Chinese people's Volunteer Army!" when the soldiers of the 7th company loudly reported their unit numbers in the film, the veterans in front of the screen couldn't help but report their unit numbers and names. With such an identity that made him engrave his life, Li Huawu crossed the Yalu River. The same as the battle of Changjin lake, the winter of 1951 was still cold, difficult and long. In the snow covered mountains and forests, the roar of enemy planes became a haze over the heads of the volunteers. The hidden March is the common memory of all volunteers. During the day, Li Huawu and his comrades in arms rested in place. They spread an oilcloth on the snow, just enough for two people to lie together. At night, they waded through the snow half a person high. If it were not for the tenacious will to fight and relying only on their thin military clothes, it would be difficult for the volunteers to resist the severe cold of minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius. Li Huawu first went into battle on an evening in November 1951. Fierce gunfire sounded, and he was still nervous. He didn't think much, "the motherland will be peaceful only if we drive away the enemy." after more than four hours of fighting, Li Huawu and his comrades in arms repelled the enemy's repeated attacks and defended the position. For this bloody veteran, the cruelty of the war does not need to be reviewed in the film. A year later, in a blocking battle, Li Huawu lost his right eye and hands forever. When the charge signal sounded, Li Huawu ran in the dense fire net with a gun rack of nearly 20 kg. Suddenly, a sharp roar came from his ears, and he fell down with his hands protecting his head. In the dull explosion, the shell exploded in front of him. Li Huawu blacked his eyes and fainted It's been three days since I woke up. The health worker told him, "most of your comrades in arms who charged with you died. Your life was snatched back from death by comrades in the stretcher team and medical staff." During the treatment in Heilongjiang, the medical staff told him the story of Paul Kochakin and read "how steel is made" over and over again. "In order to live for the dead comrades in arms", Li Huawu began to practice eating and dressing with his broken arm, and learned to read with the rest of his left eye. On the battlefield is an iron soldier. When he got off the battlefield, Li Huawu still maintained his iron will. "With faith and belief, not to mention the loss of hands and eyes, even the greatest difficulties can be overcome." after returning to his hometown, he opened his post-war life. This time to Chengdu, veteran Li Huawu also completed a wish. Because of "Changjin Lake", he met his former comrades in arms again. After watching the film, veteran Li Huawu came to the Sichuan revolutionary disabled servicemen's sanatorium (Veterans' hospital). There, he met Zhou Quandi, an 87 year old comrade in arms. It has been 58 years since they last met. In the battle of Changjin lake, Zhou Quandi ambushed in the snow for three days and nights. His limbs were amputated due to severe frostbite. After returning home, Li Huawu and Zhou Quandi learned to live with their residual arms together in the Veterans' hospital. "Wrap a cloth strip around the remaining half of his arm and tie it tightly when eating. Sometimes if he can't eat, he loses the spoon. What should I do? Pick it up and continue to eat... Writing is the same, tie a pen with a cloth strip..." old Li Huawu can not only take care of himself, but also get rid of illiteracy and be able to read books and newspapers. The fighting spirit of "determined, not afraid of sacrifice and overcoming all difficulties to win" has always inspired him. In May 1957, the Academy of veterans established an after-school performance team of Sichuan revolutionary disabled soldiers. Li Huawu and five comrades with upper limb disabilities practiced hard for more than a month and learned to play the harmonica. "War song of the volunteer army", "my motherland", "I am a soldier"... With a sincere heart, they played these songs, and the exciting music spread all the way to Beijing. "After the performance, Premier Zhou and other leaders came to the stage to 'shake hands' with us! In fact, we didn't do anything great at all, but the premier was so concerned and loved us, which was very touching!" Li Huawu said. Standing next to Premier Zhou, he felt shrouded in a great sense of happiness. At this meeting, Li Huawu and Zhou Quandi recalled many old days. "If we can't shake hands, let's touch our elbows." in this way, the two completed a special hug. "There is a gun platoon leader named Lei in the film. The gun platoon leader of our company is named Gao. He takes care of me most. But I still don't know whether he died in the Korean battlefield..." according to the cinema staff, old man Li Huawu was silent most of the time. Nearly 70 years after returning from the battlefield, veteran Li Huawu is using his own eyes to watch new China step by step towards prosperity, strength and future for his sacrificed comrades in arms. "We've finished all the battles we should fight, and our future generations don't have to fight." looking at the young faces who came to the cinema to see Changjin lake, old man Li Huawu was full of satisfaction. "This generation of Chinese youth do not forget history and live up to their predecessors, but still move forward bravely with hope and faith." A netizen said: "many people haven't left since the end of the film, thinking that there might be 'colored eggs', but they haven't waited for a long time, so they have to leave. When they go out of the cinema, they see tall buildings, traffic and bustling outside. I think this is the best' colored eggs'." After the arduous fighting years, Li Huawu, a veteran in this era, also felt this happiness. (thanks for sun Shaojian and Guo linli's strong support during the interview.) (outlook new era)